School district raises pay for subs

BELLE PLAINE — Pay for substitute teachers in Belle Plaine will increase by $10 a day this school year.

Schools across the state have seen a shortage of substitute teachers, and Belle Plaine is no exception. “I think we’re doing as well as most schools are,” said Superintendent Chad Straight earlier this month.

Belle Plaine has had one of the highest pay rates for substitute teachers in the area, said Straight, but other districts have been increasing pay.

The Belle Plaine School Board voted this month to increase the pay for substitute teachers to $131 a day, and to $141 a day after 30 days in the district.

Retired teachers and people in the community who have four-year college degrees and sub authorization typically fill the positions, Straight said.

The school district has struggled to find full-time teachers as well. The district found a teacher for an open third grade position, but it didn’t find a fourth grade teacher for the first semester.

The district will move a first grade teacher to a fourth grade class for a semester, Straight told the school board. An instructor is lined up for the second semester, he said.

The district will have three kindergarten sections this year due to increased enrollment for that grade but will probably return to two sections next year, said Straight.

The district is also short one special education teacher and is in need of associates, according to Board President Val Coffman.

winona@hometowncurrent.com